CMS’ Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program hit academic and rural hospitals with lower penalties in 2019 compared to 2018, after the agency made changes to the program, according to a new study, writes Modern Healthcare.

The research, published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine, found 44.1% of teaching hospitals and 43.7% of rural hospitals experienced a lower penalty in 2019 compared to 2018 from the readmissions program. The smaller penalties were the result of changes made to the readmissions program this year in which hospitals were separated into five groups by similar proportion of patients who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid.